Methods of stopping the engine of a stopped motor vehicle are known. EP Patent 1,052,400 relates to a system for automatically stopping and restarting an internal combustion engine for an automotive vehicle and particularly, to an automatic stop-restart system of an automotive internal combustion engine in which the engine is automatically stopped when the vehicle is in its stopped state, and automatically restarted from the vehicle stand-still state.
GB Patent 2413999B relates to a method for controlling an operation of a motor vehicle with a combustion engine, especially a hybrid vehicle with at least one additional electric motor, and an automatic start-stop unit for the automatic cut-off and automatic starting of the combustion engine of the motor vehicle in the presence of corresponding stop and/or start conditions. Furthermore, the invention relates to a motor vehicle with a corresponding automatic start-stop unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,920 relates to an engine automatic speed control apparatus which exhibits a smooth transition from brake release to an engine drive state. An ECU determines brake force such that a vehicle does not move in correspondence with the slope of a road surface according to a road surface slope sensor while monitoring an operated quantity of a brake pedal according to a brake pedal operated-quantity sensor. The ECU stops an engine when braking force is applied via the brake pedal such that the vehicle does not move. After stopping the engine, the ECU determines braking force such that the vehicle does not move in correspondence with slope of the road surface according to the road surface slope sensor, and restarts the engine when braking force becomes less than braking force required to maintain the vehicle in a stopped state. The ECU then restarts the engine in the interval from relaxing of braking force via the brake pedal until the brake pedal is released.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,046 relates to an automatic engine-stop control apparatus for a vehicle, includes a vehicle speed sensor and a brake pedal depression sensor which are coupled to a control unit. The control unit is programmed to decide that the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is smaller than or equal to a predetermined stop expected speed when the brake pedal depression sensor detects that the brake pedal is depressed, and to decide that the vehicle is stopped when a predetermined time period elapses from a moment that the vehicle speed becomes smaller than or equal to the predetermined stop expected speed and when the depression of the brake pedal is continued.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,224,531 relates to a method implemented in a vehicle using information representative of an operational state of the vehicle being provided by sensors and a data communication bus. The information is representative of the engagement and disengagement of an exploitation assistance brake (EAB) and a speed of the vehicle and of a force on a brake pedal of the vehicle. A cut-off condition (C3) for the thermal engine can be validated when the speed is lower than a predetermined threshold and in the case where force is applied on the brake pedal or when the exploitation assistance brake is activated. The system includes at least one sensor for the condition of the exploitation assistance brake.
US Patent Application 20120191317 relates to a device and a method for controlling the operation of an internal combustion engine in a motor vehicle with a brake line, at least one sensor for measuring the brake line pressure in the brake line, a stop-start device for automatically switching off and starting the internal combustion engine, and an adaptive cruise control device for regulating the vehicle speed as a function of environmental information captured in a sensor-based manner, wherein a brake cylinder acting on the brake line is associated with the adaptive cruise control device and wherein the stop-start device and the adaptive cruise control device are coupled to one another in that the automatic switching-off and starting of the internal combustion engine via the stop-start device is executed directly as a function of the brake line pressure measured by the sensor.
US Patent Application 20130096810 relates to a system for a vehicle and includes a fuel control module and a voltage setting module. The fuel control module cuts off fuel to an engine during a deceleration fuel cutoff (DFCO) event. During the DFCO event, the voltage setting module monitors a brake pedal position, sets a desired voltage to a first predetermined voltage when a brake pedal is not depressed, and sets the desired voltage to a second predetermined voltage when the brake pedal is depressed. The second predetermined voltage is greater than the first predetermined voltage. A regulator generates a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal based on the desired voltage and applies the PWM signal to an alternator.
WO Patent Application 2010/102719 relates to a method for automatically turning off a drive unit in a motor vehicle in the presence of a predetermined condition for turning off said drive unit, wherein by way of a control device, the generated brake pressure and/or the generated brake torque is monitored and evaluated, and wherein a condition for turning off said drive unit is considered fulfilled when after reaching the motor vehicle standstill, the monitored brake pressure or the monitored brake torque exceeds a predetermined turning off brake pressure threshold value or turning off brake torque threshold value. The invention is characterized in that the turning off brake pressure threshold value is composed of a predetermined standstill brake pressure and a predetermined margin of safety, and/or the turning off brake torque threshold value from a predetermined standstill brake torque and a predetermined margin of safety, wherein the standstill brake pressure or the standstill brake torque is predetermined such that the motor vehicle is just kept stationary upon applying the standstill brake pressure or torque with the drive unit being turned on and off.
WO 2013/084697 relates to an automatic vehicle-engine control device which, when coasting, stops the engine if a detected brake-pedal operation amount reaches or exceeds a first operation-amount threshold, and after stopping the engine, restarts the engine when detected negative pressure falls below a first negative-pressure threshold.
Idling an engine in a stopped vehicle is very inefficient. The engine is burning fuel, and since the vehicle isn't moving, when idling, the vehicle is getting 0 MPG (zero miles per gallon). In addition, because the engine isn't working at its peak operating temperature when it's idling, the fuel doesn't undergo complete combustion. This leaves fuel residues that can contaminate engine oil and damage engine parts. For example, fuel residues tend to deposit on spark plugs. As the amount of engine idling increases, the plugs' average temperature drops, and the tendency for the spark plugs to become fouled becomes worse. This, in turn, can increase fuel consumption by four to five percent. Excessive idling can also let water condense in the vehicle's exhaust. This can lead to corrosion and reduce the life of the exhaust system. Shutting off the engine instead of allowing it to idle also reduces the wear on the core, expensive engine components including engine components such as the cylinder head, crankshaft, camshaft, and fuel pump.
Driver controlled engine stops can be more efficient than automated stops. Generally, an automated engine start/stop system allows 2-3 seconds of idling before shutting off the engine. An automated engine start/stop system cannot anticipate how long an engine shut down should last, and therefore can cause short, unproductive engine shut downs, which consume more fuel than they save. There is a need for a method to allow the driver to stop and restart the engine when a vehicle will be stopped for a significant length of time.